Cigar Museum - JJ Fox

I'd love to be able to say JJ Fox are my cigar merchants - I trundle out of my club in St James and sample their wares, order a couple of boxes of fine Havana cigars on account and head off. But...I don't have a club in St James. Or anywhere, unless you include the gym (or work.) And I don't smoke. And hence I don't actually need a cigar merchant.

However, JJ Fox is, they claim, the oldest trading tobacconist in the world - in this same building albeit only under this name for the last twenty years. It's a nice size, old-fashioned type shop, and the aroma of fine tobacco is extremely pleasant when you enter. In fact, it's nothing like the sour, cheap, nasty stench you may encounter when trying to get into any office or public building, having to push through the throng of gray-faced wheezing guardians chewing on their nasty cigarettes. No, this is smoking of a much higher grade, even a non-smoker than smell that.

And what does this have to do with museums? Well, as the extremely helpful and pleasant staff will tell you, downstairs is a cigar museum. I believe it was the original storeroom/walk in humidor, which has now transferred upstairs behind big glass doors.
And how can this be interesting you may ask? Well, it may not be big, but they have a pretty good collection of interesting items - not about the history of cigars, but more the people who bought cigars there, most notably Winston Churchill and, Oscar Wilde.

The Museum

As it was when Churchill used to visit

The chair Churchill used to sit in and test cigars- and maybe just relax, having got away from Downing Street, or the War - is still there. I sat in it, and it's possibly one of the most uncomfortable chairs I've ever sat in - all lumpy. I guess it is old, but I like to think that Churchill's bum simply wore it out.

Caution - uncomfortable but highly historic chair!

Their main claim to fame is being Churchill's cigar merchant - and as everyone in the world knows, Churchill loved his cigars. There is correspondence and his own account ledger and other items. A display of letters includes this fantastic one:

Send the boy some cigars, just not as good as mine

They also have a tin believed to contain the oldest existing cigars in the world. It's closed, and presumably they'd be somewhat dry and revolting by now.

Churchill's own cigars

Oscar Wilde defaulted on his bill - he did get put in jail in fairly dire circumstances.

Oscar, with letter of bankruptcy

Wilde left just over £37 unpaid - which to my mind, in the late 19th century, was surely a lot of cigars.

There's a lot of great memorabilia, books and odd items. This picture caught my eye:

A Cuban Cigar Factory

The famous phrase has it that the finest cigars are 'rolled on the thighs of Cuban virgins.' I am fairly certain anyone uttering that cliche doesn't have the above virgins in mind....

By Royal Appointment to - virtually every King for a very long time

It's a fascinating little museum, and the staff have clearly put a lot of effort and energy into it, and are justly proud.
The amazing smell of the place prompted me to buy a couple of cigars (yes, I don't smoke, but I have had the odd cigar in the past.) I think I marked myself out as a novice by asking for something 'not very strong'. They couldn't have been more helpful - and there are a very large number of cigars they have in stock. I haven't smoked either one yet, I'll wait for a special occasion.

Cost: Free. You don't need to buy a cigar either, they won't mind.
Food and Drink:  No. Tobacco, yes.
Toilets: No. Don't be ridiculous.
Travel: It's here. Just round the corner from The Ritz, which is handy.
Web: www.jjfox.co.uk